#WELP this one got long

[mayxthexforce]

⭐️ ― convincing portrayal of a canon character

💻 ― excellent writing

🌼 ― creative headcanons

🎙️ ― great to talk to

📚 ― nice threads to read

🎀 ― all-around kind person

🥇 ― well-developed oc

😍 ― admiring from afar

📌 ― a staple on the dash

🏆 ― 10/10 blog, would recommend

🧡 ― sender's choice ( sender can add whatever category they want ) - MICA I LOVE YOUUUUUUUU ❤️ you're the best mwah thanks for being such an awesome and cool friend ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ having you in my life has been PHENOMENAL!!! Thanks tons for the awesome joyride

💜 ― receiver's choice ( simply shout out whoever

🐝  *  ―  𝑺𝑯𝑶𝑼𝑻-𝑶𝑼𝑻𝑺 𝑶𝑭 𝑨𝑾𝑬𝑺𝑶𝑴𝑬𝑵𝑬𝑺𝑺. 

*-cracks knuckles-* alright, let's do this!

⭐️ ― convincing portrayal of a canon character

Shout-out goes to @prodijedi. I love Callie's Dooku, he has so much depth and layers and cares so much about the people he loves deep down but is too deep in the mess he made and doesn't know how to show it, but Callie doesn't erase the fact that he has done terrible things.

💻 ― excellent writing

Shouting at @tacticalvalor for this one. So far, I've only interacted with Paz but I love him, and I love how well he's written. Jay has a way of making Paz so expressive despite the fact he's covered head to toe in armor and -understandably- unwilling to take it off. His inner thoughts are always a delight to read and the things he says always manage to crack me up.

🌼 ― creative headcanons

I think there isn't a single person in this fandom that's not creative when it comes to headcanons because we're all pretty big brained with them. But if I have to name just one, I'm gonna go with @thrawnur I LOVE YOUR HEADCANONS PJ! And I love the HCs and worldbuilding we've worked on together for Chiss. Our blueberries deserve more lore!!

🎙️ ― great to talk to

Shout-out to @corruptedforce/@crowsandmurder because Tanya is that one person you can always count on to be up to talk about literally anything. Everything I know about baseball, I learned from her. I also always love yelling with her about the stupid Star Wars questions people ask on Quora (still not over the person who had the audacity to ask why Obi-Wan didn't just kill Anakin, I'm outside their house with a baseball bat).

📚 ― nice threads to read

To this day, I still go into @d4gangera's blog just to read the stuff KT writes, and not just the threads I'm in, but everything she writes. I love how she writes Dagan, his inner monologues, his trauma after spending decades in bacta, his issues with the Jedi Order and the Empire and this new era he got yeeted into. I love it all.

🎀 ― all-around kind person

@vendettavalor IS THE KINDEST BEAN EVER!! I'm still absorbing all the analogical horror stuff that you recommended me and you bet I'm going to be yelling in your DMs once I'm caught up.

🥇 ― well-developed oc

Shout-out to @gwiazdowe for Cirz. HE'S BABEY!! I love him and how kind he is and how he sees good in people that nobody else would see good in. But he's not dumb. He's a smart boy and he deserved the world, I'm protecting him at all costs.

😍 ― admiring from afar

Not really from that far because we've actually talked but I have yet to start a thread with @alootus and that is a crime I should be in jail for. But I'm admiring because the blog theme is just so PRETTY, I love the color palette and the graphics.

📌 ― a staple on the dash

I love seeing @kylo-wrecked's posts on the dash. From the aesthetic stuff to replies to answers to ask memes, it's always god tier content!

🏆 ― 10/10 blog, would recommend

@ofthestcrs AMAZING MUN, AMAZING CHARACTERS, AMAZING BLOG! Gee is one of the first people I interacted with in this fandom and honestly, I'm holding on like an orphaned monkey. 10/10 will not be letting go anytime soon.

💜 ― receiver's choice ( simply shout out whoever you want )

[anewp0tat0]

i lied i had like atleast one more weston thought to expell from my brain, before i miss this boat entirely. we're heading to green lands woooo

[mythtiide]

what its all about honestly 🍨 (+ bonuses under the cut !)

i didnt know what to draw so i pulled smth out my pinterest pose board; heres the original image!

+ doodles from these past few weeks

[seyaryminamoto]

Fic-to-Art #39: Gladiator's ELEVENTH Anniversary! (+ BONUS: Fic-to-Art #36...)

And here we are! March 26th arrived and I did not forget about it, but I paid for my ambitious madness with my wrist and forearm. Somehow, I finished my intended pieces on time, but I do not advise that you ever try to make 9 artworks in 3 days. No, sir. Bad life decisions, that's what that was... but this fic, as anyone knows, moves me to do things I never thought possible, starting with writing the fic itself!

It's really crazy every time it hits me that I've been doing this for as long as I have. It's been a complicated, chaotic journey, with its many ups and downs, but ultimately, it has been our journey. For some people, this is just one more fic in the pile: for me, it's been the best adventure of my life so far. Everyone who has ever been touched by Gladiator, who has ever cherished this story, who's looking forward to the big conclusion, who wants to see how the chaotic war is going to end... you're all part of this crazy adventure along with me, and I can only thank you for joining me.

This year, I had no time to make as big a project as I usually go for. Thus, I did a sort of free-for-all edition of Fic-to-Art over at Patreon and challenged myself to draw as many scenes as I could, out of their suggestions. I even sprinkled in a few scenes I impulsively wanted to draw because I loved writing them or because I look forward to writing them... and this is the result!

In order, the scenes are as follow:

Sokka combing Azula's hair, a common occurrence throughout the story.

Azula watching over a convalescing Sokka in the Chase of Jeong Jeong arc.

The outcome of Sokka's final battle in the Superior Gladiator League, namely a moment where Sokka and Azula more or less gave away their relationship's true nature to the public by raising their hands towards each other...

And now, spoiler territory! Some were by my choice, some by Patreon requests:

An important moment shortly after Sokka and Azula reunite.

Azula confronting her father, with a LOT of backup.

Xin Long's long-awaited freedom.

The aftermath of the final battle.

The full-blown confirmation of their relationship to the general Fire Nation populace.

Sokka, Azula and Hotaru's first night together

And the big final one is ACTUALLY Fic-to-Art #36 but hahaha woops I didn't post it here on time because it was super hard to finish since I had a LOT of things going on... but here it is now! :'D it's a glimpse VERY far into the future of this fic's timeline!

Alright, that should be enough talking and explaining. Some things are vague, some things aren't, but ultimately I really hope you guys will be looking forward to the scenes you haven't seen yet, and to Gladiator's eventual outcome.

So now... with all this being said and done, I'm gonna go take a trip down memory lane and watch my Tenth Anniversary video once more! Feel free to do the same thing if you'd like to commemorate the fic, I think it's a good way to experience Gladiator all over again, hahaha.

Thank you if you read all this, and if you read all THAT: 5 million word landmark, here we come! Thanks for hanging out with me across ELEVEN years of Gladiator!

[ganondoodle]

i have grown kinda tired of all the studio ghibli and totk comparisons bc i love most of miyazakis movies and its so annoyingly obvious that if totk actually took inspiration from them its all just the surface level aesthetic and none of the good story telling

[leviiackrman]

Had a surge of inspiration so enjoy Mineyo’s Completed Timeline!

Tag list (ask to be added or removed): @carrionsflower @statichvm @risingsh0t @simonxriley @tommyarashikage @kanos @confidentandgood @unholymilf @florbelles @thedeadthree @shellibisshe @roofgeese @aezyrraeshh @faerune @tekehu @jackiesarch @minaharkers @sergeiravenov @carlosoliveiraa @rosenfey @greenecreek @queennymeria @heroofpenamstan @alexxmason @tethrras @jamessunderlandgf @a-treides @solasan @bigbywlf @delzinrowe @fenharel @imogenkol

[pyjamaart]

A looming presence... (A piece of fan art for Episode 11 of the Christmas Comeback Crisis)

Read more for an essay on all the memes and references ;)

So here it is. Finally. Only one month too late: This piece of CCC fan art I've worked on since the episode came out.

Sorry for the delay, but I just started at my new job this week and it's been a little stressful, so I didn't have much time to work on this. But now it's finally here!!! I gotta say, the hardest part by far was the background, lol. I didn't mean for it to escalate that much. At the end I was honestly running out of memes to draw.

I bet we can all agree that episode 11 of the Christmas Comeback Crisis was so worth the wait, right???? My god. Peak entertainment. I still can't believe I'm getting all this awesome lore and music for free, feels kinda criminal.

I'm so invested in this story, it's unreal. I can't wait to see how it will end. I can already tell it's gonna be pretty emotional. (And not to alarm anyone, but I have a slight feeling that the Voice is not gonna make it out of this story arc alive. I mean, after everything he's done, it's safe to say that he kinda deserves it. Of course I really don't want him to die, cause that would mean…….. Woodman would also have to die??? Otherwise the Voice will just keep coming back again and again because Woodman is keeping his memory alive…….. Oh man wait a moment….. I don't even want to think about that. Forget I said anything about this.)

Anyway, let's talk about this piece of art for a moment.

In the foreground, we have our brave protagonists. I really really like how Nozomi turned out, so I decided to make her my new icon from now on. Don't get me wrong, I love my old icon, but it's kinda zoomed out and you can't really make out any details when it's really small. So Nozomi it is. Meta Knights sword was shockingly difficult to draw, especially because I had to figure out how to draw it when he's holding it at an angle like that. Otherwise, drawing him was actually one of the easiest things about this whole thing. His design is really just two circles with some arms and armor. Figuring out how the circle tool in Gimp works has never felt this good. (Kinda crazy I can just draw him like this now, considering how obsessed with him I was when I was about 12-13 years old. Back then you had to download official renders of your favorite characters onto your computer, then print them out and hang them on your walls all around your room. Yeah I've always been like this.) Drawing Santa was really fun too, just his right hand was a little difficult. But that's just because I still can't draw hands in general. Maybe I should practice drawing hands more. (Naaaaaah I'm just kidding, I'll never do that.) Now that I'm looking at him again, he's also longingly staring at President Haltmann in the background. Doomed yaoi fr.

Speaking of the background, let's talk about that next. There's obviously the title-giving "looming presence" the Voice. I had his hands completely in the background at first, but I thought it looked cooler when they were hanging threateningly around Santa's shoulders. (You may ask yourself, 'man these hands look kinda alright for my usual hand drawing standards', and that is because I traced over pictures of my own hands. I love "cheating" at art.) I also gave him his stupid little bow tie and the colored buttons on his suit sleeves. Not only is that kinda my trademark for drawing him at this point, it's also supposed to show, that under all the threats and the evil villain persona, he's just kind of a loser. A real (male equivalent of a) girlfailure. That's why I made sure that half of the things shown in the background are there to make fun of him a little. I love the Voice dearly, but that's just what felt right.

And now let's get to the actual main course of this essay. I probably spent half the time working on this on the freaking background. I'm just gonna start in the top left corner and then go down each column and explain what each of these mean or what they reference. (Since there are some quite obscure ones in there.)

Let's start with the two ponies in the very top left. They're actually ponysonas of Nozomi Tojo (left) and Takane Shijou (right). Nozomi is an earth pony and has a tarot card as her cutie mark, specifically the ace of cups. Takane on the other hand is a unicorn and has some musical notes as her cutie mark, which you can't really see. I don't know enough about the Idolmaster to think of something more meaningful for her, sorry. ;)

Under that are Susie Haltmann and her father, President Haltmann. They were (after Woodman) the first characters I wanted to draw into the background. Susie has this black bar covering her face, since she was never really there to begin with. The whole story line with her father wanting to bring her back was actually so freaking sad. And when the Voice killed him in episode 11 and that image of Susie flashed on screen as the last thing he saw before he died….. Oof……… That's also why I drew that cursor looming next to her "window" about to click on the closing button. Haltmann himself is also the only character in the background to actually leave his little window, wanting to reach his daughter. He's also glaring at the Voice for causing him all of this grief and anger in the first place with his false promises.

Then there's…. ahem, "Hot robots in your area". With drawings of a random unnamed robot and Mettaton from Undertale. Which the Voice has apparently bookmarked. This is just a head canon, but I like to think he has a thing for robots, lol. ;)

Oh and on the left next to that on the very first column is Simpleflips' logo. Shoutouts to Simpleflips indeed.

Onto the next column. At the very top is Haruka Amami (also from the Idolmaster), who played a pretty huge role in the CCC, especially in the latest episode. That moment at the very end where she saved Grand Dad from certain death was just fantastic. Absolutely goated scene. She's kinda pressing her face against the window she's trapped in. I hope you can even see that from far away, haha.

Under that is one of the more obscure references. It's from a King for Another Day video, specifically one titled "The Hobart Hootenanny - SiIvaGunner: King for Another Day". It's a slideshow made of beautiful Hobart pictures. One that struck me personally the most was a little family picture of Hobart and the rapper Eminem, who was also a contestant in the KfAD tournament, looking lovingly over their son sitting in a cradle. Eminem is seen saying "Our son is beutiful". A truly touching photograph indeed. In that same slideshow is also another scene of Hobart together with the Voice, but we'll talk about that one later.

The next one is a reference to the CCC side story "I wanna thank me" and shows a pie chart with the election results that were discussed in that episode. Under the pie chart itself is a little box containing all the different parties and showing their respective percentages. On the left is a poster for the "Poké Poké Literature Party", showing Monika's head with the words "Just vote Monika" at the top of the poster. The words (and Misha.) are scribbled on the bottom, lest we forget that she's not running this party alone. This side story was first featured in the Christmas Comeback Crisis Watchalong in 2020, which was actually the first time I watched the CCC in its entirety. It all went downhill from there. ;)

Then there's the Voice's… thing? Object? Weird apparatus where no one really knows what it does or what its purpose is? Every time we see the Voice sitting in his office, this thing is sitting on his desk right next to him. There's been loads of jokes about its purpose. They've all been made before. I'm not going to repeat them. Only the Voice himself truly knows what this thing does. Probably. Could just be a decorative piece of art.

Then we have something veeeery self indulgent on the next column. It's Aquaman from Megaman 8 (With a not so subtle skull right next to him). You should all know by now that I'm the founding father of the Aquawood ship. And I also have the head canon that Woodman and the Voice are very divorced. Interpret into this whatever you want.

Next to Aquaman is the internets' favorite panel from the web comic Tails Gets Trolled. I fucking love that comic. If you haven't read it in its entirety, I highly recommend doing it. (Though be warned that it contains some pretty heavy topics, many many slurs and a plethora of gore.) Okay, maybe I don't recommend reading it. (Just read it with all of that in mind.)

Under that is a personal favorite joke of mine. It's supposed to be Spotify, with a playlist open that I created some time ago. I called it "Die Pizza Playlist" (Remember that die in German is just "the") which I always listen to when I'm baking my own pizza. Highlights include "Pizza" by Antilopen Gang, "Pizza Heroes" by Lemon Demon (You can actually see the album art for Spirit Phone on the left of the playlist.), "Pizza Pizza Pizza" from the Ratatouille musical and so on and so on. The first song in the playlist is obviously "We like pizza" by the Pizza kids, which is even playing in the image. On the side are two more music artists, at the bottom is the image for the Veggie Tales soundtrack, which also featured a song called "Pizza Angel". And over that is Mitski. I just feel like the Voice would listen to her music. Do not question me on this.

The audience laughs at the funny 7.

On the Voice's left shoulder sits a single green bean. It's flashing you a cheeky grin and a peace sign. While I didn't intend for this to happen, I accidentally referenced my own Woodman birthday gallery art from two years ago, where the bean also sits atop the Voice's shoulder. I know that next to "Yankin'", the bean is one of the most hated memes on SiIva, but I think he's just a silly little guy! :D

Let's head on over to the next column. Seems like the Voice has an incoming call from one of his guards, but he's ignoring it as he has more important things to do, like hovering intimidatingly over Santa Claus.

Next to that window on the right are the Voice's messages. I almost wrote "messanges". That would have been embarrassing, thank god I caught that in time. This is also (yet again) a little self indulgent, since the Voice apparently has the last message he sent Woodman pinned to the very top of his messenger app. His big triangular head is blocking most of it, but since I'm the artist, I can tell you exactly what it says: "Please call me back", which was sent on February 1st 2023, the day "The Disappearance of Woodman" was released. Yeah, I'm still very upset, how could you tell? :( Under that is a message to his trusty pizza guy asking for a pizza with extra cheese.

Next we have two of my favorite memes on the SiIvagunner channel (My absolute favorite being "Funny budots", since I never wrote that down anywhere.), one being Frisk Undertale becoming uncanny and the other one being the goat. I don't really know how to describe the goat, but apparently it was crafted by the same artist who made the stoned fox that's also very popular online?? I may just be stupid, but I didn't know about that until I looked up a reference for the goat. Since it often appears alongside Undertale and Deltarune, many have made the assumption that this is what Asriel would look like in real life. That's why Flowey is there next to it with an equal sign. Whoever drew up that calculation wasn't really sure of their work, which is why they drew a question mark right next to it. Between Frisk and the goat is a little Soul, also from Undertale/Deltarune.

Onto the next column, where I'm dropping very subtle hints that a specific character in this image might like pizza. Or might even be a little obsessed with it. On the left is a list with the contact details of three well known pizza chains, on the very top is Sonic the Hedgehog who just recently became a brand ambassador for Totino's and on the bottom right of this section is a flyer for some kind of pizza sale.

The next window contains my favorite joke of any rip on the entire SiIvaGunner Youtube Channel. "Peepoona 5. Let us shart the pants." Just typing this out is making me die of laughter yet again. (The rip in question is "Our Beginning - Persona 5".) But as you all know, I am very into toilet humor. That's why Aquaman is one of my favorite robot masters. And why I'm such a big fan of Youtube Poop. And why I watch Minion fart gun religiously. But enough of that, you get what I'm trying to say. I love funny poop jokes. That's why this is here.

Oh man. This next one is why I wanted to write this very detailed essay in the first place. A reference so obscure, even I can't find its origin anymore. And believe me, I tried. Thankfully, I took a screenshot of the original comment thread this was based on. A user called "The New Guy" commented on a SiIvaGunner rip, something along the lines about how much they enjoyed this specific rip. At the time, the comment had 920 likes, so I'm guessing it must have been a pretty popular video. (The comment should also be about 4 years old now?) Anyway, under that comment, someone asks them what their profile picture was from. They simply answered "wagon", since that was exactly what their profile picture showed. Someone on the SiIvaGunner team must have found this exchange so funny that they commented "wagon" as well. And that's the origin of this joke. If anyone knows which rip this is from pleeeeaaaase tell me. I need to know.

I don't think I need to explain who the next guy is. Just the love of my life. I specifically drew Woodman in his getup from the Nuclear Winter Festival, since that was the last time he appeared on the channel. He's looking kinda concerned in the general direction of the viewer, for obvious reasons. And right under him is his trademarked >:] emoji.

And last but certainly not least, the final column! Now I finally get to talk about this other scene from the Hobart Hootenanny. It shows Hobart and the Voice having a romantic stroll at a beautiful beach, while the sun is slowly setting in the background, making the water shimmer with its breathtaking colors. Okay, the last thing didn't really happen, since it's a shitty MS Paint drawing, but I like to imagine it did. Maybe I should draw a remake of this image one day. Now I'd like to quote the video in question: "A man and Hobart were walking together on the beach. He looked back and saw that in his times of sadness and need, there was only one set of footprints. He asked Hobart why he would leave him in his time of most need. Hobart simply turned to the man and said, VVVVVRRRRR SRRRRR RRRRGGGHHHH--" (Thank you SiIva Wiki for the transcription.) Now I don't think I need to explain why I drew Hobart in a bikini top and fishnets. The question answers itself.

The next image is actually quite easy to explain. It's mm5charge and smol Maki. In another universe, Chargeman and Maki might have been integral to the SiIvaGunner lore. This specific image is just stolen from my piece of fan art called "Megaman 5 Brainrot (featuring Acidman)", which I posted in 2022. I still head canon that Megaman and Love Live take place in the same universe. Just because I think it's funny. And because I want to see funny robot masters interact with the girlies from Love Live. How do I explain this? It's like…. balancing out the world? The robot masters are almost all male (with a few exceptions) and the characters shown in Love Live are all female. How would Thanos say? "Perfectly balanced, as all things should be." Don't question my cool head canons, okay?

After that we have a poster featuring the Jazz Cats! I really really love the little animations that showed their backstory when KfAD2 first came out. I don't know if it's okay for me to say this, but I also really really enjoy the song "But Not You" written (in universe) by Doge and Naxx. The text is veeeeeeery questionable, but man, does it sound good regardless… And shoutouts to wolfman1405 for the heavenly vocals.

On the right of that is a missing poster for Wade L.D.. Nothing much to explain here I guess.

Left of that is the Voices shopping list, which lists flour, oil, yeast… Wait a minute…. All of these are ingredients for pizza dough! Guys, I'm beginning to think that this guy might like pizza.

On the very bottom of this column is Mario 7 Grand Dad himself, who has his hostile gaze directed at the Voice. I would be pissed off too if someone kept me locked in a glass tube for 7 years.

The last little window just shows the Vineshroom with the words "fecal funny" written under it.

And with that, it is done. The entire background thoroughly explained. (I may have gone a little overboard this time.)

It's been a while since I posted new art, huh? In the meantime, a lot has happened. As I said before, I started a new job, got a tattoo of Woodman on my leg (best idea I've ever had btw) and I also started watching MLP, which explains the Love Live / Idolmaster ponysonas, lol.

And that's all I wanted to say. I hope that the next piece of art isn't that far off. Jenny out. (I think this might have been the longest essay I've ever written here. I'm so sorry. By which I mean, I'm not sorry at all. I'm not forcing anyone to read this.)

[ccstiles]

Scrolling through stuff and reading Yuuri's response to someone asking about how in-depth their listener OC's can be, and Yuuri saying they don't care but suggested we don't make the listeners know each other

...erm-

[st-john-out]

Days Gone Screenshot Dump (5/?)

yes hello been a while, just played the game again for 30 minutes since it was all I could spare but at least I got some new screenshots

[l0rd-0f-c0ws]

I frequently feel completely isolated no matter how much I talk to people. So that's fun

[girlivealwaysbean]

on one hand completely ignoring your emotions is soo good for my mental stability and productivity but man i miss staring at the ceiling and listening to sad songs on loop

[calamity-calliope]

So, writing a little bit about Enoch's mental state because my man is NOT okay.

(Meat & potatoes under cut bc this turned out way longer than I expected)

TL;DR: cringefail cowboy loses his family, joins the Civil War accidentally, gets shot, becomes a cowboy, quits his job, gets a brother, loses brother, goes vengeance mode, gets flashbanged and joins cult.

Let's start from the beginning. Set scene: The Moffetts in Kentucky. Young Enoch is watching his dad bury his mother. And, well, this is his first trauma. She'd been sick for a while. He knew that. Pa knew that. But the passing was still sudden and neither of them were prepared for it. Enoch didn't know what to do, because he'd never seen anyone die before. Pa wasn't much help. The old man became distant and moody, and soon after the death announced to Enoch that they would be traveling for a while.

They went East. This was at a point where the West was still "untamed" and only the braver folk were willing to take the dangerous trek across the continent. And Mr. Moffett was admittedly a coward. He took Enoch to the East to try and find work, offering his skill as a blacksmith where applicable. They lived in Virginia for a few months, before Pa, too, began to fall ill. Enoch led the way on the long road back to Kentucky, where a few months after they returned, he buried his father. To dig the grave with his own two hands was an almost unbearable burden. But he pushed through and got the job done.

Fast-forward a few years, Enoch got a blacksmith shop of his own. He lived far out in the woods, alone. Thus the news came to him a little late (by about three years, to be exact) that war was tearing apart the country. News of it all came to him little by little, but never the whole picture. Seeking answers, he saddled up his horse and went back East, returning to Virginia.

It is here that his wild however brief, military career began. He had passed through the Shenandoah Valley and crossed the Blue Ridge Mountains. Western boundary, as he was unaware, of the partisan chief John S. Mosby's domain. Enoch's first encounter with Mosby's Rangers occurred when a scout patrol stopped him along the road and demanded to know his business. Panicking more than a little bit, Enoch stated that he was there to join the partisans.

Skeptical, the Rangers took Enoch to their rendezvous, where he was introduced to Col. Mosby. Mosby as well was not too wholly convinced of Enoch's story, but still offered him the chance to prove himself. He was given two "navy-sixes" and told to act accordingly at the next raid the Rangers undertook. But that was another day. In the meantime, Enoch was invited to stay with the Hatcher brothers, who taught him how to use his guns.

Enoch was still very much scared at this point. He had seen death twice in his lifetime up to that point, but to now be a bringer of such a misfortune weighed heavily on him. He did, however, find comfort in the friendly nature of the Hatchers. The two brothers, Harry and Welt, became good friends of his.

During the next Ranger rendezvous, Mosby outlined an attack on a picket post. There were maybe forty-five men present for the job, Enoch being one of them. The leadup to the initial strike was, of course, to be in complete and utter silence. Silent woods were always a great fear of Enoch's. Because when the woods were quiet, something was wrong. It was no reassurance that he himself was the danger in this case. As the group got closer to its target, his anxiety began to spike again. Complete and utter quiet. Then, Mosby blew his whistle. Enoch reacted immediately to the sound and spurred his horse forward, with the rebels alongside him briefly stunned before following his lead.

On his almost-out-of-control horse, Enoch drew his pistols and aimed for the first humanoid figure that loomed out of the darkness. He pulled the trigger of one of his guns, and it did its deadly work. He could not help but gasp after the fact, after hearing the body hit the ground, because he had killed. It was something he had not done before, and, a year ago he had never planned on doing. Still, in the lead and surrounded, he continued to mete out death as a matter of survival.

In the end, Enoch was accepted as a Ranger and assigned to Company F. After the skirmish, Mosby presented him with a fine black thoroughbred named Apostle, as a reward for his good work during the skirmish. From there Enoch accepted his position. He fought whenever he was called upon, and even answered rendezvous when his company didn't. Death had lost the shock it had held when he first pulled the trigger. Killing seemed more of a duty. That didn't stop the idea of it from creeping into his mind at night and keeping him awake with the guilt of murder.

Then came the Second Battle of Dranesville. It was this battle that would set the rest of Enoch's life into motion. He was in the thick of the fight, as always. One of the forces that the Union fielded during that day was the feared and respected California Battalion (imagine a bunch of imported Californians, pissed off after being on a boat for several months). It was coming to the latter half of the battle, and the boys in blue were beginning to pull back. The Californians defined their escape route and went for it. As they left, one man raised his carbine and squeezed off a carefully-aimed shot, which hit Enoch in the knee. The two of them locked eyes for a moment before the Californian spurred off. Shortly after, Enoch fell from his horse from loss of blood.

After being tended to by Dr. Montiero, Enoch began he recovery period, which would last quite a while. Over that time he changed. The weight of the war, the pain of the injury, every repressed emotion, all hit him at once. He was a wreck, laying tired and weeping in the bed of a stranger, some days being to weak to even eat. His leg bothered him constantly. Still, he found the strength to haul himself to his feet once more and rejoin his comrades-in-arms. His heart was never quite as much in his fighting anymore, though. And so the war dragged on. Enoch was with the Rangers through their triumphs and their hardships. And then it was over.

While many of the Rangers went off to become clergymen and practitioners of law, Enoch wasn't sure what he wanted to do. He hadn't seen much of a future for himself beyond blacksmithing and soldiering. The postwar allure of the West caught him though, and he felt himself being dragged in that direction. He caught a train, leaving the world he had always known behind.

At first, looking for work was hard, because everyone was looking for work. Enoch especially had a rough time, as his wartime injury limited his physical capabilities somewhat. He was eventually picked up by an aging Mexican-American War veteran, a shady figure by all definitions, who had no problems whatsoever with hiring him. Enoch would be added to the payroll as a ranchhand.

Mr. Willis's ranch wasn't big, as the old man was just beginning to dabble into ranching. There were a couple of men already hired as hands on the range, and Enoch was introduced to them right off the bat. One of them was Hezekiah, a freedman who had been in the West since before the war, and considered one of the best ropers on the range. The other Enoch recognized immediately.

He was Clade Merrow, a veteran of the California Battalion. When Enoch saw him, he was at first angry. Merrow recognized him too, and they said nothing to each other. Enoch still carried his navy-sixes, and Merrow his carbine. There was a moment where they both reached for their weapons. Hezekiah managed to deescalate the situation by noting that they "wouldn't get paid if they kill each other." That was the end of that.

Work on the ranch was tough. The days were long and hot, the work tedious and often boring, and sometimes Mr. WIllis was frugal with the pay, but compensation came in other ways. As Enoch would remember, some of the best nights of his life were spent by firelight, looking up into the big Western sky, which was filled with stars. That, he assumed, was the universe's comforting word. It was easy to forget the past then. It was those nights that Enoch also talked with his coworkers.

He learned that everyone wanted to get off the range and be somewhere else. Hezekiah wanted to go somewhere where his talents would be recognized, and where the pay would be better. In particular, he expressed his desire to be a rodeo star. Merrow's wish was to become a bountry-hunter. It was a life, he stated, that was more exciting and fast-paced than being a cowboy. Enoch found himself agreeing with Merrow, and a friendship formed between the two. They never really brought up the war.

After a while, the three of them put their "retirement plan" into action. they resigned their service with Mr. Willis and went their separate ways. Enoch and Merrow went off together, and bid Hezekiah goodbye and wished up luck on his dream.

Things went well for Enoch and Merrow. They found good work with their frontier justice and brought in a fair number of minor criminals and outlaws. They lived a nomadic lifestyle, not having a single base of operations but moving wherever they were needed. They would have more heart-to-heart moments over these times. They got around to talking about the war. Neither of them looked upon those days fondly. Both had come from quiet gentle lifestyles and were not prepared for the toll of war, having suffered, physically and psychologically, and they agreed that they were quite done with war, forever. And one night, they made the agreement to become brothers, solidified by blood oath.

For Enoch, he had mixed emotions about it. Mainly, he has happy to have a brother at last. Someone he could confide in. Someone to keep him company so that he wouldn't have to be alone. But at the same time, he was scared. Not of having a brother, but losing that brother. He had noticed his pattern of losing loved ones, and the thought of losing Merrow was something that terrified him. ( >:) )

Then the big catch came. It was a bounty that would have set the two veterans up for life. So of course they took it. They one thing that they found interesting was that the last reported location of this particular criminal happened to be a place called the Neath. Neither Enoch nor Merrow really knew anything about the Neath. They'd heard that something weird had happened to London around 1862-ish but never really bothered to look into it. After a lot of asking around and following confusing and convoluted directions, they made their descent.

The Neath fascinated them. There was so much going on, so many interesting people to meet, so many wonders, that they were almost distracted from their goal. They tracked their target to Spite, where they employed their tried-and-true tactic of "divide and conquer." Enoch took his revolvers and went one way, and Merrow took his carbine and went another. It was going the way it always went. At first.

Enoch heard sounds that weren't normal. Sounds of a struggle. And then- the loud report of a carbine. He immediately stopped what he was doing and ran to the source of the noise. There, all he found was Clade Merrow, dead on the ground. And he stopped for a moment, forgetting how to think. Dropped to his knees and took his brother's head in his lap. He had died with his eyes closed, thankfully. All Enoch could do was sit there and cry. And he did cry. Harder than he ever had in his life, and he pressed his forehead to Merrow's and whispered I'm sorry over and over again.

After a while he got to his feet again, shakily, and he took Merrow and gave him a dignified burial at a place with a nice view of the zee. It somehow felt right. He laid at the grave a while, wishing he could be buried right there with Merrow. There was nothing he wanted more in that moment than to die.

The first thing he did after pulling himself together again was to head right back to Spite, guns out and ready for anything. He let off a couple of "warning shots" which, expectedly, caused a huge commotion. As Enoch made his challenge for his brother's killer to come out and face him, he was hit hard over the head and knocked out.

He woke up in an unfamiliar environment, a locked room inside of a ship. He didn't know where he was, and he was scared, confused, and angry. He was vocally expressing his problem to whoever would have been listening, making threats and vows and swearing oaths of justice against the perpetrators. His rant was cut short when all of a sudden it became very, very bright, (@zeebreezin congrats on the KO) and he forgot himself.

Thus, we come to current Enoch. He lives at the Grand Geode, he travels to London every once in a while, he gets a paycheck, and he's happy. Almost.

See, one of the things about Enoch is that everything he's been through, all his ups and downs in life, have made him who he is. It's the lived experiences that have built him into his individual self, whether it be dashing through the woods riding side-saddle with his fellow Rangers or learning rope tricks from Hezekiah, or even standing beside his father at the anvil, it's other people who made Enoch, Enoch. Those were moments where he felt genuine happiness. But he doesn't have that anymore.

He's not himself. He's the extension of one mean machine. He walks around smiling, but it's an applied exhilaration. Something that hides buried traumas and burned-away memories. Those golden eyes of his unable to reflect the starry night sky of the open range. Sure, the desire for vengeance against the one who took his brother from him still dominates his thoughts, but it's been carefully structured to feed into a greater agenda. Enoch, for the most part, is gone.

[zondel]

Fellas, another minecraft piece!

This time I drew Eggboy and the communist party. These fellas all came here by mistake, but they grew on me

[alildritten]

Ah yes, the scariest story of all:

G A Y

(/j)

[akkivee]

i like to think there’s a universe out there where ichiro, kuukou and kazu formed a three man naughty busters that ruled over ikebukuro lol

[roaringroa]

oficially diagnosed with adhd babeyyyyyyy